Timing device for telephones



April 27, 193? s g E AL 2,@78,633

TIMING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONES Filed Nov. 28, 1956 Patented Apr. 27, 1937 2,078,603 TIMING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONES Milton Felstein and Joseph A. Ellegood, Washington, D. 0., assignors of one-third to James 8. Gibson, Washington, D. 0.

Application November 28, 1936, Serial No. 113,243

3 Claims. (Cl. 161-19) This invention relates to an attachment for desk type telephones, and more particularly to an attachment in the form of a sub-base to be applied to the base or support of the telephone; 5 said sub-base having a timing element such as an hour glass normally concealed therein.

One object of the invention is to construct a sub-base of the character described equipped with an integral receptacle or with a relatively slidable rod or drawer mounting an hour glass, the latter being normally concealed within the base but adapted to assume an operative position adjacent one end of the sub-base upon actuation of means mounting the same or upon withdrawing l5 the slidable rod or drawer from its normally hidden position within the aforementioned sub-base. Another aim is to provide a relatively movable normally concealed member in a sub-base, said" member having an hour glass pivoted thereto 20 and movable therewith by means of a spring hinge -or the like mounting; said spring hinge mounting serving to raise said hour glass carrying member to erect position upon movement of the member a predetermined distance relative to the base.

25 The above and other aims and objects will be' apparent from the detailed description. hereinafter appearing when taken in conjunction with the appended drawing forming a part hereof to which reference is now made, and in which- 30 Fig. l is a side elevational view of a conventional French type telephone with the novel subbase applied thereto and showing as a part of the sub-base a slidable drawer or receptaclein its outward supported position with respect to the 35 sub-base and with the hour glass supported in operative condition thereby. I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the sub-base partly broken away showing the slidable mounting for the hour glass" drawer or receptacle, into which 40 it may be moved to concealed position within the sub-base. The hour glass" carrying closure for the drawerbeing shown by full lines in the lowered or closed position as designated by dotted lines inFig. l; i

Y 45 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of the invention shown in Figs. land 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of still another modification embodying the principle of the invention. Referring first to the preferred form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the invention is shown applied as an attachment to the support or base A of a telephone of the French or cradle type B. The novel attachment comprises an elliptically shaped sub-base ll of wood, sheet metal,

or a moulded material, characterized by a bottdm plate l2 having a rubber pad I3 and an upper phone base supporting plate It. The supporting plate It is preferably located slightly below the top edge of the sub-base II and shaped to form 5 a seat in which the bottom of the support or base A of the telephone is snugly fitted so as to be frictionally held thereby. The body of the attachment l I is preferably formed hollow between the upper and lower plates i2 and i4, except for certain partition walls in between which and said plates is received a pair of drawers or receptacles l5 and i8 which are slidably mounted therewithin. The drawers l5 and iii are thus mounted to slide in a horizontal plane, that is, in a plane parallel to the bottom plate i2. The drawer I5 is preferably of a width and depth to accommodate various small articles, such as a pad of paper and a pencil, whereas the drawer i6 is relatively elongated and movable in a direction normal to that of thedirection of movement of the drawer ii.

A closure plate ll of a size to fit within and provide a cover for the top of the drawer it is pivoted to the inner side of the vertical front or outer wall 20 of the drawer as at l8, by means of a hinge member |9., Cooperating with the hinge member i9 is a coil spring 2| having an arm 22 which bears with force against the inner face of the closureand mounting plate I'I, beyond its pivotal connection i8 with the front wall 20. Encircling the narrow portion 23 of an "hour glass" 24 is a clip 25 centrally mounted on and pivoted to plate IT. The term hour glass is not to be understood as literally meaning an hour glass, since obviously the hour glass may be arranged to have the sand run for a predetermined time, such as three .or live minutes, the former period being the usual time for a long distance telephone conversation at a basic service charge.

From the above description it will be apparent 4 that the sub-base may be merchandised as a novel article of manufacture to be applied to the support or base of a telephone in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the rubber bottom pad l3 serving to prevent relative sliding movement of thetelephoneand its sub-base attachment with, respect to a supporting surface on which it rests during dialing, as will be understood. Further, the drawer I 5 constitutes a convenient receptacle and support for a pad which 0 is frequently required either in jotting down messages or displaying information needed inthe use of the telephone and is conveniently arranged at the front or forward side of the device.

When it is desired to time the length of a telephone conversation being made, it merely be comes necessary to move the drawer l6 outwardly from the sub-base a predetermined distance, when the mounting plate II will pivot on the hinge l8, under the action of the coil spring 2|, automatically positioning the timing device for use as shown in Fig. i of the drawing. The hour glass 24 may now be rotated on the clip 25 to start the gravity operation of the device which serves as a convenient and reliable time indicator. When such a timing operation is completed the plate l1 and its time indicator may be swung downwardly to a horizontal position within the drawer l6 against the tension of spring 2| and retained in this position by moving the drawer inwardly beneath the top plate ll. In this condition the drawer and hour glass are concealed and protected by the sub-base against harm and accidental injury to the timing device in the normal use of the telephone set, the parts being constructed and arranged for the repeated use 01 the device merely upon the withdrawal of the drawer, as above described.

In the modified form illustrated in Fig. 3, the annular side wall H is shown extended laterally at one side of the sub-base to provide an open top relatively narrow receptacle III which is rigid with the base. As in the construction and arrangement of parts described and illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the open top receptacle is adapted to be normally closed by a spring pressed hinged closure plate 3| on the inner side of which an hour glass 32 is pivotally mounted.

In this embodiment, however, the closure plate 3| is normally held in a horizontal position, against the action of the spring hinge 33 across the top of the receptacle, by a spring catch 0! conventional construction having an operating button indicated generally at ll. When it is desired to time the length of a conversation being made on a phone so equipped, the closure plate 3| may be released by the application of pressure on the button of the spring catch 34 and the plate and its timing device It swung to a vertical operative position in the manner of the preferred embodiment.

In the modification oi Fig. 4, the timing device 40 is pivotally mountui on the inner vertical face or cord or a segment ll ,of the annular side wall H oi the sub-base, so as to normally lie within and be concealed by the hollow base. As shown in full lines, the segment II is pivotally moimted near one end upon a rod 42 which in turn is slidably, but non-rotatably, mounted in a horizontal bore-ll in a solid part 01 the base. A spring 44 is coiled about the rod adjacent the segment 40 to which it is connected at one end, the opposite end of the spring being connected to the rod. It will be seen, by reference to the dotted line position of the segment in this figure that upon moving the segment II, on its rod 42 laterally of the base to tree the timing device 40 from its concealed position therein, that the segment is caused to assume the vertical operative position indicated, through the action 01 the spring 44.

While the invention has been described in somewhat great detail, it will be appreciated that various changes may be made to fall within the spiritot the invention, and it is our intention to cover all such and to be limited in this respect only as may be necessary by the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for the support 01' a telephone comprising a base mounting said support, a timing element, said timing element being hingedly carried by said base and held thereby in a normally concealed inoperative position. and means for releasing and swinging said element on said hinge to an exposed operative condition.

2. A device for the support oi a telephone comprising a base portion, a member slidably mounted in said base portion, a timing element carried by said member and inoperatively concealed in said base portion in one position of the member,

and means for bringing said timing element into exposed operative condition upon movement oi said slidable member to another position with respect to said base portion.

3. A device for the support of a telephone comprising a base portion having a drawer slidably mounted therein, a timing element pivotally secured to said drawer and inoperatively held in said base portion in the concealed position with said drawer, and means for automatically bring ing said timing element into operative condition upon withdrawal of the drawer from its concealed position in said base portion.

MILTON FELS'I'EIN. JOSEPH A. ELLEGOOD. 

